


Knee Deep In The Woods Somewhere

by greyquill



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Beautiful Man, Cabins, Falling In Love, Fluff and Humor, Fox Hybrid Ten, Hybrids, Johnny is Best Boi, M/M, Moon Taeil is THE MAN, Nature, Suh Youngho | Johnny is Whipped, Suh Youngho | Johnny is a Good Friend, Taeten are whipped as always, all the neos will appear sooner or later, flannel for days, honestly I miss living away from cities, sorry can't talk right now, this is normal, we're doing country boy shit, wolf hybrid Taeyong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:46:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29594376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyquill/pseuds/greyquill
Summary: Had you told Johnny he’d be moving out of his comfortable, modern, very urban apartment of a home, abandoning all he’s ever known to live out in the countryside with his fox hybrid, he’d have laughed it off and continued on his merry way, but that's exactly where he finds himself.In a new cabin home with all it's old (read: rustic) charm, a couple of strange (and supernaturally handsome) neighbors, chores to last him a lifetime, and one big 'ol can-do attitude!---Alternatively: YET ANOTHER HYBRID AU, COME AND ENJOY THE SCENERY WITH ME IN HYBRID HELL
Relationships: Lee Taeyong/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten, Moon Taeil/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 6
Kudos: 36





	Knee Deep In The Woods Somewhere

Had you told Johnny he’d be moving out of his comfortable, modern, very urban apartment of a home, abandoning all he’s ever known to live out in the countryside with his fox hybrid, he’d have laughed it off and continued on his merry way. But that is exactly where he finds himself, all of his belongings (and some items provided to him by his parents, bless them) in the back of his new truck, which he traded out for his SUV, his baby, Diana, in which he had his first kiss and first heartbreak, and every first in between. Betty is the name of his new 4-wheel drive beauty and he plans to make good use of her, which so far he has, finding his way through dirt roads and back roads, side roads, all kinds of roads.

“I don’t think we’re going the right way. The GPS isn’t working.”

Oh, right. There’s still his hybrid, sitting in the seat next to him, mindlessly chattering when he isn’t distracted by the changing scenery around them. One glance over at him and he goes back to focusing on the road ahead. The hybrid is fiddling with the tiny GPS, jabbing at all the buttons and turning it over in his hands as if that’ll fix it.

“It’s not working because there's no signal out here, remember? Besides, I know we’re going the right way, I can feel it. Isn’t that right, Betty?” He pats the dashboard of the black truck affectionately.

The hybrid eyes him with distaste and sighs loudly, obnoxiously before clicking his seatbelt off. “Well, are we there yet?”

“Ten, please put your seatbelt back on. I don’t wanna get pulled over.”

“I literally haven’t seen anyone else out here. Relax.”

The fox hybrid continues to stick his head out the window, big fluffy tail waving around behind him. Ten is the reason they upped and moved out. They’ve known each other for a long time now. He was gifted to him by his parents when they were younger and they’ve been inseparable ever since beady brown eyes met human brown ones. He grabs the tail, moving it out of his sight.

“Could you not?”

Ten looks over his shoulder sheepishly and smiles, tucking his tail away to wrap lazily around his thigh. “Sorry.”

“Why are you so nervous? You wanted to come out here.”

Ten hums and returns his attention to the road.

This all started with a tablet, a grave mistake. Johnny gifted his curious little fox hybrid a tablet for him to entertain himself with while he’s away at work (Ten never showed much interest in working anyway). And from that tablet alone, he’s taught himself Chinese and Korean and was beginning on Japanese, last he checked. But he’s also been learning more about his species, which led to his decision that, according to him, his biological clock is ticking. So Johnny took it upon himself to find a nice home out in the woods with a reasonable fox population.

“There’ll be lots of foxes for you to meet in the forest.”

“I know.”

“Does it matter if they’re a hybrid too?”

“Not really. I’m fine with someone that isn’t part human,” Ten smiles then, tail curling happily.

He wonders how _that_ works. He wonders if other hybrids also move out to their natural habitats to look for mates… “So would a, say, bear hybrid also come out to the woods if they wanted to settle down too?”

“No-pe! Actually, I read that a lot of hybrids stay with their owners till they fall in love with another hybrid or with their human.”

“Oh.”

“Like, you remember that bunny hybrid that worked at the florist shop down the street from the apartment?”

“Yeah. Doyoung. He was nice.”

“Nice to you—” Ten rolls his eyes—“ _He_ is in love with his human, but he didn’t wanna admit it.”

“With Jaehyun? How do you know?”

“It’s obvious. You can smell it. Well, I mean, you probably can’t but I can. They cuddle a lot, that’s how he scents him. It’s a warning to other hybrids that Jaehyun is _his_ human.”

“I didn’t know bunnies were so territorial…”

“Yeah, they are, like way more than foxes… There’s even hybrid dating apps nowadays.”

“Oh yeah, I saw an article about those.”

“Mhm!”

“But you’re interested in the real thing, right?”

Ten nods, “The earth is calling me.”

Johnny smiles. “Well, get your butt ready cause this is our stretch of home here,” he says as he turns onto a narrow dirt road crossing over a small creek and through trees. Ten gasps excitedly and shifts in his seat, transforming so his fox form yips and runs circles in the seat before climbing into his lap. Johnny chuckles and runs a hand over Ten’s luxurious red-orange fur, petting the fox as he keeps yipping and trying to poke his head out the window.

Ten sits cozy in his lap, head twisting this way and that, trying to memorize and admire every tree and root and rock on the path of their plot. The trees break into a small field and sitting just ahead is an old wooden house, surrounded on all sides by tall grass save for the white gravel path leading up to it, slowly being overtaken by weeds.

“Here we are—” he reaches around the hyper fox in his lap to turn off the truck, the black metal beast finally rumbling asleep—“Home sweet home, Ten.” The fox pants happily as he’s picked up and carried out of the truck. He licks at the corner of Johnny’s mouth excitedly, practically vibrating in his arms. Johnny grins and turns his face away, putting his hybrid down on the gravel.

Ten runs laps around his legs and between before dashing off towards the house. Johnny follows, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand and digging for the key of their new home in the shirt pocket of his flannel button-down. Ten whines at him from where’s standing on his hind legs, scratching at the front door.

“I’m comin’, I’m comin’.”

Ten scratches at the door more insistently as Johnny nears, gravel crunching underfoot, the floorboards of the steps leading up to the porch creak under his weight.

“I can’t open it if you’re in the way, Ten.”

The fox begrudgingly steps away and continues his little run around Johnny’s feet as the tall man unlocks the door. It swings open with a creak much like everything else and well, neither of them are really surprised to see the condition of the inside, an even layer of dust everywhere, cobwebs hanging in corners and from the ceiling, ratty, mottled thin curtains over the windows visible from the doorway. 

“Home sweet home,” Johnny murmurs, and Ten sneezes. He glances down at his watch, “How about some lunch before we get to cleaning?”

Ten makes a disgruntled noise and turns tail, running off the porch to sniff and jump into the tall grass surrounding the house.

“Be careful!” Johnny calls, watching his hybrid hop and skip through the grass. He sighs and goes back towards his truck to grab the cooler sitting behind the passenger seat. He takes out two packed sandwiches and teas, and takes them over to the porch, sitting on the top step. He eats as he watches Ten roll around in the grass and sneak through it, chittering to himself all while scent-marking the property.

A wooden fence divides the grass of the open area and the forest ahead. The fence, although old-looking, appears to be in good shape so that’s one less thing to worry about, but then there’s the rest of the house he needs to look at. He really hopes there aren’t any leaks or critters living inside.

“Ten, you gonna come eat?” He looks towards the grass and frowns when he doesn’t see familiar red fur sneaking through. “Ten?” He stands, “Ten! Te—!” He gasps as arms wrap around his waist and relaxes when he realizes who it is. “You’re gonna give me a heartattack.”

Ten nuzzles his face against his back, hugging on tighter, “This place is perfect… Thank you, Johnny.”

Johnny smiles and hugs his hybrid’s arms, “Anything for you, bestie—” he pats his hands after a moment—“I’m gonna start cleaning. Eat and then you can keep exploring.”

Ten pulls away, “I’ll help you unpack.”

“You don’t wanna go out already?”

Ten shakes his head no and runs his hands over his triangular ears, smoothing out the fur. “Tomorrow I will. I have to be the most prettiest fox in this forest.”

Johnny smiles as he heads to the truck, “You already are, Ten.”

Ten grins and sits on the porch to eat, digging into his sandwich as Johnny removes the tarp on the back of the truck, tying down their things. “It’s gonna take forever to clean it up,” Ten hollers as Johnny grabs a broom, mop, bucket, and a box of trash bags.

“Well—” Johnny walks over, setting the supplies down and drawing out a bandana from his pocket, tying it around his forehead—“We have 7 or 8 hours of sunlight left. If we work hard, we’ll get it done.”

“Love the can-do attitude, John, but this is a lot.”

“Better get started then. Wish me luck,” Johnny winks and marches into the house with a trash bag in hand.

Ten watches his best friend march off with a small smile and returns to his lunch, popping the lid on his can of tea. Johnny comes walking out a few moments after, moving his bandana down to rest over his nose and mouth as he hacks his lungs out.

“You good?”

“It’s so… dusty.”

“How’s it look?” Ten asks, offering Johnny a sip of his tea.

Johnny shakes his head, resting his hands on his knees. “Nothing seems broken. It’s just so _dirty_.”

Ten stands with a sigh, wiping his hands off on his joggers, “Guess I gotta step in.” He pats Johnny’s shoulder, grinning. “Let’s get her done.” He marches into the dimly lit house, Johnny follows his red tail.

Ten tears down the mottled curtains, tossing them into the trash bag Johnny holds open. They go around every room, throwing away everything of no use to them until the house has been cleared. Johnny drags the bulging trash bag out as Ten hops around the living room and kitchen, testing the floorboards.

“They’re creaky, but they don’t break,” Ten smiles, taking the broom Johnny passes him.

“Well, that’s a relief. Did you see the bathroom?”

“A tub and a shower?” Ten sighs dreamily. “This really is the perfect home.”

Johnny chuckles, dragging a ladder in to dust the rafters. “We’re flying offline for a bit. The internet guys are supposed to come in sometime this week to put in a modem and a satellite.”

“That’s fine. I downloaded a couple of movies on my tablet,” Ten grins, simultaneously sweeping the kitchen and dusting off the old tiled counters with his bushy tail. Birds chirp and call intermingling with the sound of the broom, brushing against wood, and the creak of floorboards as the duo clean their new home. They get all the dust out and Johnny takes it upon himself to mop as Ten tries to get the dust out of his tail.

“What are we gonna do about the lawn?” Ten asks as Johnny comes out, tossing the dirty water on the grass before rounding the house to the faucet on the side.

“There’s a shed in the back. The previous owner left some tools there, might be a lawnmower.”

“You want me to che…” Ten trails off, looking towards the forest, ears perked.

Johnny looks up at his hybrid from where he’s crouching, filling his bucket. “What’s wrong?”

“Someone’s coming. Two people.”

Johnny stands, carrying the bucket over to the porch as two men step out from the forest, walking through a break in the fence, a path overgrown with grass Johnny hadn’t noticed before. “Must be the neighbors,” Johnny pats Ten’s head. “Be nice.”

“Neighbo— I am nice!”

Johnny smiles and waves as the duo approach, one tall, one small. The smaller man looks about Ten’s height, wearing jeans and a flannel shirt. He definitely looks like a local. The taller one though looks like he stepped out of a horror movie where the protagonists get attacked by crazy woodsmen. Overalls and silver hair… Yeah, definitely a scary dude. He hopes there aren’t any severed human parts in the crate he’s carrying.

“Howdy!” Smaller man says. “You must be our new neighbors.”

“That’s us,” Johnny smiles, shaking the man’s hand. His palm engulfs his and _wow, he’s beautiful up close_. “I’m Johnny—” he gestures back at the fox hybrid, who smiles friendly and bows his head in greeting—“This is Ten.”

“It’s nice to meet you both. I’m Taeil and this is my partner, Taeyong.” 

The silver-haired man smiles and nods in greeting, “Howdy.”

Taeil smiles, “I hope the house wasn’t too bad. It’s been a long time since anyone lived out here.”

“Oh no. Just a little dusty, but we’ve got it all cleaned out.”

“I’m glad to hear that. So, Taeyong and I put together a little care package for y’all.”

“Oh wow, that’s so nice of you two!”

“It’s nothing, just a little welcome gift.” Taeil gestures at Taeyong and the stoic man steps forward, offering Johnny the crate.

Johnny takes it, grinning when Ten sneaks up under his arm to look into it. There’s an assortment of jarred jams, candles, oven mitts in the shape of bear paws, flower and vegetable seeds, and a blanket. “Woah, this is all for us?!” Ten exclaims.

Taeil nods, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Not a lot of people live out here, so us, neighbors, gotta look out for each other. We’ve lived here a while so we know most of everything there is to know, you know, if y’all ever need a hand with anything. Y’all come from the city?”

“That obvious?”

“Your clothes and your accent give it away,” Taeil chuckles. “A few days out here outta straighten y’all out.”

Johnny smiles, “Well, thank you for this. I wish I had something to give in return. I’d invite you two in for tea but, as you can probably tell, we’re still settling in.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of opportunities for us to get together.”

“I look forward to them,” Johnny smiles charmingly. Ten looks up at him, neutral expression on his face but a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

Taeil smiles, in what Johnny can only guess is a polite manner, and nods, “Well, we’ll leave you to it. We live not far from here. If you follow that path all the way down, you’ll come upon our home.”

“Thank you, Taeil, Taeyong.”

“Thank you!” Ten repeats after him.

The duo smile and nod before turning and leaving the way they came. Ten waits for them to be out of earshot before smirking up at Johnny. His best friend is still staring at the spot where their neighbors left.

“He’s good-looking, huh?”

“Yeah—” Johnny sighs and then shakes his head—“He’s taken.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Uh, yeah, I do. He said ‘partner’ when introducing his friend.”

“Mm, true. I think you stand a chance though if anything ever happens,” Ten smirks slyly, elbowing Johnny’s side. “Anyway, there’s just another example for you.”

“Huh? Of what?”

“Taeyong is a hybrid too.”

Johnny quirks a brow, “No way. No ears, no tail.”

“He was probably hiding them. His tail under his clothes, his ears with hairclips.”

“Oh… What is he?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Johnny shakes his head no and Ten crosses his arms over his chest, “You were just graced with the presence of a wolf.”

“Oh wow, really?”

“Mhm.”

“Aren’t foxes and wolves enemies?”

“Not really. Wolves and coyotes are, but they tolerate us a little better.”

“Hm.”

“Let’s finish unpacking,” Ten pats his arm. “We’ve got little sunlight left to work with.”

Johnny nods, sets the crate down on the porch, picks up his bucket, and heads back inside to finish mopping as Ten starts unloading their belongings from the truck. They don’t stop until they’ve gotten their essentials out—pajamas, bedsheets, toiletries. 

Ten flops onto their newly built couch with a sigh. Johnny watches with a chuckle, wiping his forehead with his bandana. “How’s it feel?”

“Comfy enough. Gotta break it in though. 5-minute break and then the rest?”

Johnny sits beside his hybrid, “I’ll finish the rest tomorrow while you’re out. For now, why don’t you go ahead and shower? I put your fur and hair products on the cistern, and there should be hot water.”

Ten smiles, crawling up to nuzzle his cheek against Johnny’s, “Thank you.”

Johnny grins and hugs his hybrid close. “You’re gonna woe all those foxes tomorrow. They’re going to be _begging_ to be your mate.”

“You know it,” Ten winks and pulls himself out of Johnny’s arms, sauntering off down the hall to their shared bathroom. Johnny watches him go and sighs, relaxing into the couch for a moment before getting up to go into the kitchen. They have a few packets of food that his parents gave them so he’ll make dinner from that.

The sun sets, plunging the forest into night. Johnny’s relieved to find all the light switches are in good condition, except for the one in the living room. A little investigating and he finds the root of the problem: an old bulb, but he’s too lazy to look through their boxes for the light bulbs they bought.

Ten comes out of the shower, dressed comfy in boxers and a tank top. His ears stand up straight on his head and his tail waves behind him, extra fluffy looking, fur shiny. He sniffles at the air, “Mm! What’s for dinner?”

“Chef Boyardee, your favoriteee!”

Ten frowns, “That’s all we have?”

“For now. Sorry, Ten-Ten. I’d go out for real food, but we gotta wait for the new fridge to be delivered. We’re gonna have to live off canned food for a little bit.”

“If we must,” Ten sighs exaggeratedly, taking the warm can Johnny offers and sipping at the tomato and meat sauce within. Johnny does the same, standing beside him.

“It’s gonna take some work to turn this place into a home, but we’ll get her done.”

Ten hums in acknowledgment, quietly sipping his dinner. Johnny follows suit with his own can, careful not to cut his lips on the rim. It’s quiet save for their slurping and the chirps of multitudes of crickets out in the night.

“Ten.”

“Yeah?”

“So once you do find _the one_ , what are you gonna do?”

“I haven’t really thought about that…”

They lapse into silence, both staring down at their cans till Johnny breaks it, fiddling with the paper wrapped around the cylinder.

“You two could move in here? Or you could… stay in the forest with them.”

Ten turns to look at Johnny, “What about you?”

“I’ll be fine. It’s not the end of the world, Ten.”

“I can’t leave you, Johnny—” the fox hybrid reaches for his hand, intertwining their fingers—“You’re my best friend. You would have moved out here for nothing.”

Johnny squeezes his hand gently. “I like it here.”

“Be serious, John. I just… I couldn’t leave you like that…”

“Why not?”

Ten looks away, “You know why.”

“I’m not your owner, Ten. I’m your friend. I am here to support you and whatever choices you make, so long as they’re healthy for you. You wanted to meet more foxes, we moved. You want to stay with the love of your life in the woods, you go. I’m never gonna hold you back, Ten.”

“That’s not how the government sees it,” the hybrid mumbles, ears falling flat against his raven hair.

“Who cares what the government thinks?”

“A lot of people do.”

“Don’t change the subject. Point is, no matter what you do, I’m always gonna back you up.”

Ten smiles, ears perking up a bit, “And we’ll be best friends no matter what.”

“No matter what,” Johnny affirms.

Ten grins, letting go of the taller man’s hand to twiddle his thumbs and inspect his claw-like nails, “I’m actually kind of nervous.”

“I think you’ll be ok.”

“But I’ve never met real foxes before. What if they speak a language I can’t or have a heavy weird accent?”

“That’s why you studied. Just relax. Everything will work out fine. I know it will.”

“What if I meet my true mate?!” Ten exclaims, slamming his fists on the counter with a grin. “Imagine it. So many hybrids only _dream_ of meeting their true mate, what if I met mine?” Ten blushes and hugs his tail. “It’d be a wish come true.”

Johnny chuckles, “Maybe. Let’s get our beauty sleep though. We’ll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.”

Ten grins, “Yeah… Yeah, you’re right.”

“I’m always right,” Johnny discards their cans and switches off the lights, following Ten to the bedroom in the back. There’s two in the house but they have yet to set up the other bed and anyway, they’re used to sleeping together. Johnny tosses off his shirt at the end of the bed and kicks off his sneakers and jeans, climbing under the covers in his boxers.

Ten shifts as he hops onto the bed and the little fox curls up beside Johnny’s chest, emitting a purr-like sound as Johnny wraps an arm around him, holding him close and snug. He strokes over his head and ears, “Goodnight, Ten.”

The fox sighs, cold little nose pressed against his ribs, and Johnny smiles, finally giving in to sleep.

~~~

Johnny wakes naturally as the sun is beginning its ascension into the sky. He yawns, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and glances to his left to see Ten curled up beside his pillow, bushy tail hiding his face and paws. He slowly rises, picking up the kicked-off covers hanging off the bed and tossing them back on.

As he gets his clothes together to shower, he starts making a list of things that still need to get done around the house. It’s a long list. Bathed and refreshed, he goes into the kitchen. There isn’t much… But he’ll work with what he’s got!

Ten comes striding into the kitchen as he’s finishing the gravy for their biscuits.

“Woah! Someone’s dressed to impress!” Johnny exclaims.

Ten smiles, twirling in place, his short-sleeveed button-down tucked into his skinny jeans. “Like it? I’m going for that high-end country fashion—” he chuckles with delight—“just in case I meet any hybrids.”

“You’re drop-dead gorgeous!”

Ten smiles so hard his cheeks hurt, “Thank you.”

“Homemade biscuits and gravy for brekkie today.”

“Yummy! It smells so good—” Ten takes a bite as soon as Johnny sets his plate down in front of him—“Tastes even better!”

“I’m glad they turned out ok. I had to go outside and look for signal just to get the recipe.” Johnny pours out two cups of coffee and stands beside Ten as they eat breakfast. Ten practically devours his food, washing it all down with the coffee.

“Gotta brush my teeth. Don’t want coffee breath,” the fox hybrid mutters to himself as he struts off towards the bathroom.

Johnny smiles and takes his time. He can only imagine how excited Ten is. On their way here, he’d been going on about all he’d learned. About fox statistics, fox facts, fox myths, fox this, fox that. He gets a feeling though that Ten won’t have to worry about all that. He still has fox DNA coursing through his blood, millions of years of instincts and behaviors even if he is half-human.

A loud exhale draws his attention and he smiles at Ten, standing there with his hands on his hips. “I’m gonna go now.”

Johnny smiles, abandoning his half-eaten breakfast to hug his closest friend in the world. Ten hugs back, burying his face in Johnny’s chest. They pull away after a moment, striding outside onto the porch. They both shiver at the morning chill.

“Should I expect you by dinner?”

“Yeah, that’s reasonable,” Ten smiles and stretches his arms over his head, fur bristling with excitement. “Don’t wait up too long though.”

“I’d tell you to use protection but that’s not what you’re going for, huh?”

Ten smirks, “I’m not _that_ easy. See you later, Johnny.” He shifts as he hops off the porch and the little red fox runs across the lawn before disappearing past the fence into the woods.

“Bye, Ten,” Johnny sighs and stands there a few moments. The sun is beginning to rise over the trees and morning birds whistle their songs as the forest starts to wake up. He sighs again, glancing over the overgrown lawn, morning dew on the long strands of grass almost looks like fog, and back towards the house. “One more cup of joe and we’re getting started,” he tells himself as he walks into his new home.

The morning is spent unboxing everything, starting with the items of their bedrooms. The second bed is built and made, Johnny puts away all of Ten’s things in his room to the best of his memory of how it was situated in their apartment. He unpacks his own things, stuffing the old wooden wardrobe in his room. 

Another cup of coffee and the kitchen is done, all the pots and pans put away, the old fridge thrown onto the back of his truck to get rid of. Thank goodness he put in all those hours at the gym, he would’ve never been able to lift the fridge without them. He takes his time building the stools for their island counter and then takes a little break before unpacking everything else, rugs and photographs among other things.

One more cup of coffee and the living room is done. All the boxes are folded up and put away in a closet for future use. He sets their welcome mat before the door and sighs with a small smile on his lips, “Home sweet home.” He sits on his haunches on the porch. The morning birds have quieted down and other creatures call. He wonders briefly if he's hearing actual critters or if it’s the forest itself making all that noise. A small part… well, a big part of him misses the sounds of the city, the shuffling buses, honking cars of traffic, and everything in between. But the woods also seem to hold a curiosity of their own.

He wonders how Ten is doing and he smiles, thinking of the hybrid. Even though foxes are shy by nature, Ten has always been a little more adventurous than most his species. “I’m sure he’s doing just fine—” he mumbles and stands, dusting his hands off and glancing down at his watch—“I think I can get the lawn done before lunch.”

He rounds the house, wading through the grass rising up to his knees, to the small wooden shed sitting against the house. The rusted paddock unlocks with the house key though it takes a lot of effort on Johnny’s part. He sets the lock aside and pulls the door open against the sea of grass. Sitting inside are a few tools, hammers and screwdrivers along the back wall, old cans of rusted nails on the meager shelves along the left, and gardening tools sitting to the right along with a wooden ladder that seems to be falling apart at the seams.

“So no lawnmower,” he mutters, “And I’m definitely not going at this with scissor’s all day…” He looks the garden tools over and grabs the scythe, “This is probably my best bet… Gotta remember to order a lawnmower.” He closes the shed door and starts with the grass in the backyard, but on the first sweep, the long curved blade gets tangled in the grass instead of cutting through it. “Well, _that’s_ not supposed to happen.”

He pulls the tool free and raises it to inspect the blade. “Oh! Needs sharpening. Silly me!” He goes back into the shed and finds a small black sharpening stone. After sharpening the scythe for a few minutes, he goes back to swinging the blade and finds it cuts right through. “Aw yeah, now we’re getting somewhere.”

The sun bears down on his back as he slowly makes his way through the backyard, growing more experienced with each swing he makes, learning how to properly hold it. By the time he’s mostly done with the front, his hands hurt, calluses growing on his calluses. He opens and closes his palms to try and relieve the stinging sensation as he piles up all the cut grass, tying it up in trash bags and putting them with the fridge in the back of his truck.

He plops himself down by the faucet of the house and holds a plastic cup under the cool running water, gulping it down as it’s filled until he’s seemingly bloated full of liquid. He sighs, setting the cup down to splash water on his sweaty face, and then he turns the faucet off, wiping his face off with his old uni shirt, the white print fading on the navy fabric.

“Got her done,” he pants, “And all before lunchtime. Ha! Beat that!”

He quiets when he hears a familiar chittering and stands, looking towards the forest for a glimpse of red. A little red fox comes darting out of the brush moments after. “Hey, Te—!”

Ten zips past him into the house.

“Hey! I’m right here!” He follows after the fox with a chuckle but stops altogether when he hears a door slam. _Uh oh._ He slowly inches forward and finds Ten has locked himself in his room. He knocks softly. “Ten? Is everything ok?”

He hears nothing but a single soft creak of the bed and pressing his ear against the door, he hears soft shuddery sighs and sniffles come through. His mind automatically assumes the worst and he knocks again, “Ten, let me in, please. I’m worried.”

“G-Go away,” comes Ten’s voice and Johnny sighs, stepping away from the door. He knows by now there’s no point trying to force anything out of an upset Ten. He’ll come around when he’s ready.

He heads into the kitchen and sits on one of the stools, he’d appreciate how it doesn’t wobble if he weren’t worrying about his best friend in the next room. The last time he was _this_ upset was when he lied about taking him to a new cafe, taking him instead to his doctor for a shot appointment. He didn’t speak to him for an entire day after that but a little bit of dessert made him come around.

So that’s what he’ll do. He knocks his knuckles against the counter and gets up, moving around the kitchen as he bakes. He goes through the kitchen and living room, opening the windows when the house warms up with the heat of the oven. He showers as he waits for the oven to finish and as he’s stepping out of the bathroom, hears the timer ring.

He rushes over and slips on the bear paw mitts Taeil gave him to pull out two trays from the fiery depths of the oven. He sets them down on the window sill to cool down and grins, pulling off the mitts and resting his hands on his hips, “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“Weirdo.”

Johnny whips around to see Ten standing by the doorway, dressed down to joggers and an oversized t-shirt he knows is his. “Hey, Ten,” he says softly and opens his arms. The fox hybrid comes bounding over into his arms and holds on tight. Johnny smiles affectionately and runs a hand over Ten’s hair, scratching lightly behind his ears. “I made you brownies.”

Ten nuzzles his face into Johnny’s chest and together they move around the kitchen, serving themselves slices of the fudgey sweet. Ten leans his head on Johnny’s shoulder as they eat side by side at the island counter.

“Johnny.”

“Mhm?”

“What if… we move back? I don’t think it’s gonna work out here.”

“But we just moved in, Ten.”

The fox hybrid sighs, ears drooping on his head, “I know… I’m sorry… It’s just… It’s just not gonna work out.”

“What happened?”

“I met some foxes… They came to me and asked me to leave. I was just scent marking, you know, introducing myself… but they said not to bother. They said I stink like human and didn’t want a pet around.” Ten’s ears droop even further. “I thought they were just joking around and then I ran into a tod. He seemed interested until he smelled me. He said I reek of human… I guess I’m better off in the city,” Ten smiles sadly.

Johnny frowns and sighs, “Oh, I’m so sorry, Ten.”

“No, I’m sorry I made you come all the way out here for nothing… and you’ve already unpacked…”

Johnny leans down to press a kiss to the top of Ten’s head, “How about we just stay here for a while and then go back to the city? I needed a vacation anyway.” Ten hums and leans into his best friend. “Hey, how about we go over to Taeil’s? I made a pie for them.”

“What kind? Wait, don’t tell me—” Ten sniffs the air—“Peaches.”

“Uh-uh. Close. It’s apricot. I made it with the preserves they gave us.”

“How’d you even make a pie?”

“With the stuff Mom and Dad gave me.”

“Hm. What are you gonna put it in?”

“I’ll just cover it with some foil—” Johnny stands and grabs the pie from the sill—“I think it’s cool enough now.” Ten watches as he wraps the top of the pie with foil and then shifts when Johnny is stepping out of their house. Johnny locks the door and then squats, letting Ten climb up onto his shoulders. He stands once the fox is comfortable and starts down the gravel to the path in the forest with the pie in his hands.

“Did you see I cut the lawn? I had to use a scythe! Can you believe that?”

Ten squeaks in his ear happily and licks his cheek. Johnny grins. “Yep, I’m pretty good at this country boy stuff.”

The fox snorts, Johnny can tell it's sarcastic. Stepping into the forest, they find the dirt trodden path, cutting through trees and around rocks. 

“How far do you suppose it is?” Johnny asks when they get to a log bridge over a small creek. Ten shrugs, laying his head on Johnny’s, his tail tapping against his back lightly.

“Didn’t you come out here?”

Ten nuzzles his snout against his cheek till he turns his head to the right. Johnny looks towards the forest, noticing how the land rises through the trees. “You went up?”

The fox nods.

“You’ve had quite a morning, huh?” Johnny reaches up to scratch Ten’s chin, who happily closes his eyes and leans his head into Johnny’s hand. “Those foxes don’t know what they’re missing out on.”

Ten pulls away and barks softly, though it sounds more like a cough. Johnny diverts his attention back to the path and smiles, seeing it break out of the forest. “You’re right. Here we are.” He crouches as they step out of the woods and Ten hops off his shoulders.

Taeil’s house sits just ahead, similar to Johnny’s in many ways save for the manner it appears in, as if it’s been lived in for a while. Buckets and a water hose sit alongside the house not far from the potted plants sitting along the porch among two rocking chairs. Taeyong is laying under the shade of the porch, his wolf form sits up as they approach, striking brown eyes watching their every move. 

Johnny wonders if he’ll bite. “Hi, Taeyong. Is Taeil home?”

The wolf seems to look him up and down before standing and walking into the house, pushing the door open with his muzzle. He comes back out a few moments after behind Taeil. The small man smiles when he sees them and waves them close. 

“Hi, y’all! Wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon. Come in! The sun is un-bear-able.” He chuckles as Johnny and Ten approach slowly, “Don’t worry. Yongie won’t bite, isn’t that right, babie?” Taeil smiles down at the wolf, petting a hand over his head. The wolf licks at his palm before turning to the new guests, wagging his tail, tongue-lolling, demeanor completely changed.

Taeil gasps when he sees Ten’s little fox form. “Oh, my gosh! Ten, is that you? You’re so beautiful! I really like your fur.”

The fox hops onto the porch and rubs against Taeil’s legs. “How cute!”

Johnny gulps, throat having gone dry suddenly. _Why am I here again?_ _To see the cute man. Handsome man. No! Pie!_

“We, uh, Ten and I, made a little something for you as thanks for the care package.”

“Oooh, what is it?” Taeil asks, eyeing the foil packet in Johnny’s hands. “Come on in, we can open it in here. Mind your feet,” he says, leading Johnny into his house.

Johnny stops in the doorway, glancing back at his hybrid. Ten is inching close to Taeyong, sniffling at him. The wolf does the same, leaning down to sniffle the fox.

“Don’t worry about them, Yong is very friendly,” Taeil says, holding the door open for him.

Johnny nods and wipes his feet off on the sunflower welcome mat before following Taeil in. He’s immediately welcomed by the smell of rosemary and mint and soil like stepping into a nursery. He’s surprised to see more potted plants sitting inside the house, following the smaller man into his kitchen. The house has an identical layout to his own, though this one is more heavily decorated, definitely lived in.

“So what have we here?”

Johnny sets the pie down on the island counter, sliding it over to Taeil. His eyes are still trying to find all the plants inside the house. Tendrils of vines creep over the doorway into the kitchen and hang along the wall beside it, covering the light switch.

Taeil smiles, “They’re all Taeyong’s. He’s crazy about his plants, calls them his babies. They all have names too. That one there–” he gestures with a head nod at the devil’s ivy obscuring the light switch of the room–“is named Tom. They were one of the first plants he bought himself.”

“Is he a florist or something?”

“Nope, he just really loves taking care of stuff.” He gasps as he uncovers the pie. “Well, look at that, a whole pie! Wow! Looks delicious! Y’all made this?”

Johnny blushes slightly, “Yeah, uh, not from scratch though. I’m not that great a baker.”

Taeil turns around, grabbing two small plates from his cupboards and a knife and two forks. “Let’s try it—” he cuts into the pie and sets a generous slice on each plate—“Apricot pie. Been a while since I’ve had one of these.”

“I made it with the preserve you gave us.”

“Oh, then it should taste amazing even if you’re not so good at cooking,” Taeil chuckles, “I know cause we made those preserves ourselves.” He slides a plate and fork over to Johnny.

“You did?”

“Mhm! 100% natural and homemade.”

“Wow, that’s really impressive.”

Taeil winks and cuts into his slice, bringing a piece up to his mouth. He seems to melt around the bite and smiles as he chews. “It’s so good, John. Can I call you ‘John’?”

“You can call me anything you like, just don’t call me late for dinner,” Johnny grins, biting into his slice too.

Taeil snorts and laughs aloud, high and unrestrained, and melodic and beautiful and _god dang it, pull yourself together, Johnny._ “That’s a good one! Think I’ll have to use that one from now on.”

“By all means,” Johnny smiles.

“So what brings you two out here?”

“Ten’s a vixen and he felt it was time to finally settle down.”

“Oh really? But he looks so young. He must be at least 21, well, in human years.”

“He’s 24, technically 13. My parents gave him to me when he was a kit, I was 12 or 13.”

“Aw, well, that’s sweet. You two grew up together.”

Johnny chuckles, “Yeah, we sure did. And I can’t say no to my best friend so here we are.”

“So youuuuu’reeeeee—” Taeil looks up as he does the mental math—“25?”

“Ding! Ding! Ding!”

“That means I’m older than you,” Taeil chuckles, serving himself another slice of pie. “Want more?”

Johnny shakes his head no, “No way, you _can’t_ be over 25.”

“26—” Taeil shrugs and smirks—“I think a year is pretty significant though.”

“How old is Taeyong?”

“25 in human years but really 15. He should live till we’re both in our 80s, well if we take care of ourselves, you know.”

“Oh! Ten too!”

Taeil smiles, his pie long forgotten, “I think it’s nice that you’re helping him, not a lot of people would… you know.”

“Yeah… So how’d you meet Taeyong?”

“I found him as a pup—” he shakes his head—“I lived in one of those towns, the ones where wolves are seen as pests, you know, and I guess they found his mom and… yeah.”

“That’s horrible…”

“Yeah, but we have each other now,” Taeil grins.

“I’m glad for you both.”

Taeil smiles, meeting Johnny’s eyes. They stare at each other a moment and Johnny opens his mouth but he is, of course, interrupted. The smiles drop on their faces when they hear a squeaky chittering noise and then whimpering that turns into full-on screeching.

The men run out of the kitchen and towards the front door to see the fox laying down in the dirt before the house, his rump high in the air with Taeyong trying to mount him. Ten keeps screaming, tail wagging on overtime as the wolf tries pulling him close despite the clear size difference.

“Taeyong!” Taeil yells, bounding down the porch steps to grab his hybrid by the scruff of his neck and pull him off. Johnny follows right behind him, picking Ten up in his arms and looking the fox over for any injuries, though it was _very_ obvious they weren’t fighting, nowhere near it.

Ten stops screaming and whines all high-pitched, wiggling in Johnny’s arms to get down. Johnny stares down at his hybrid bewildered and holds on tight.

“I’m so sorry, Johnny. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. Let’s talk some other time, yeah?” Taeil tries to smile as he holds onto Taeyong, who’s huffing and panting and trying to get at Ten.

Johnny nods, “Yeah, that sounds good. Bye.” He turns right around and starts down the path towards his home, holding a crying Ten in his arms. The fox keeps fighting to get out of his arms, whining and chittering. “Ten! Quit it! What’s wrong with you?” 

He doesn’t answer and continues going crazy.

It isn’t till they’ve gotten home that he stops and shifts in Johnny’s arms. Johnny nearly drops him but Ten hangs onto his shoulders and presses his face to his neck.

“Ten?”

The hybrid trembles and sniffles, holding on tighter.

“Ten?”

“It’s him,” he whispers.

“What?”

“Taeyong… He’s my true mate.”

“W-What? Is that even possible?”

“It shouldn’t be. I mean, he’s a wolf and I’m a fox. I don’t think it’s happened before.” Ten shakes his head and pulls away to look Johnny in the eyes, “Can we please stay?”

“Of course, we can stay, but what the fuck was all that?! You were literally trying to have his kids and it hadn’t even been 15 minutes since you met him.”

Ten blushes and chuckles, “Was not!”

“Uh, yes, you fuckin’ were.”

“I don’t know! I just… once I realized who he was, the vixen took over.”

“I’m guessing the same thing happened to him,” Johnny deadpans.

Ten grins and nods. And he’s grinning so hard that Johnny’s taken back to the times when he first met Ten. The fox kit was shy but he always had a brilliant smile that was reserved just for him, seeing him smile now not for him, but for the person he’ll come to learn to love and live with, a feeling too pure to be called affection or even love embeds itself in his chest.

His smile wobbles as he pulls Ten close into the warmest hug he can muster, blinking away the misty sensation in his eyes. “I’m so happy for you.”

“J-Johnny— c-can’t b-breathe.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he lets go and Ten looks up at him questioningly, ears cocked.

“Are you crying?”

“No,” Johnny blinks more and sniffs.

Ten quirks a brow, “Uh-huh.”

“So, um, what happens now?”

“Dates!” Ten claps his hands together. “I have it all figured out. I will be at my peak during the fall! The pups— kits—! will be born towards winter! We shall have 6! No! 5 kits! And they’ll be perfect and then my job will be done,” he smiles.

Johnny quirks a brow, “Am I speaking to Ten right now or the vixen?”

“Both—” he straightens himself out and squares his shoulders—“My instincts won’t stop bothering me till I pop out that wolf’s kits… pups? Anyway, we’re gonna be spending a lot more time with our neighbors than I previously thought.” Ten turns and unlocks the door to their house, letting himself in.

Johnny stares after him bewildered, _when’d he take the key from my pocket?!_

“There’s so much that needs to be done,” Ten sighs. “I need to start eating right—” he says as he cuts himself a piece of brownie from the tray in the kitchen—“and find a suitable place to burrow.”

“Will the kits come out… mixed then? Wolf… fox hybrids?”

Ten stops from biting into his second piece of brownie and laughs, “No! It’s scientifically impossible for a fox and a wolf to have kids. We might both be canidaes but we have different sets of chromosomes, at least our animal halves do. Our human parts have exactly the same amount. So while we’re able to create offspring, the kits will more than likely be either foxes or wolves.”

Johnny increasingly grows bewildered, he doesn’t remember being taught this in school. “Right…”

“It’s science, my dear John. It’s just not possible.”

“Yeah and 50 years ago it wasn’t possible for hybrids to exist except in labs,” he mutters.

Ten nods, his cheeks bulging with chocolate dessert, “Right. Exactly.”

“What I’m trying to say, Ten, is that things change. Who knows? Maybe you and Taeyong are holding the future of mix-breed hybrids in your hands.”

Ten seems to freeze up then and whispers, “I hope not.”

“Why not? You’d be famous!”

“The government, that’s why. They’d take our kits… They’d take me away from you and Taeyong from Taeil. They’d experiment on us till we died, trying to figure out what went wrong to replicate it and make so many other hybrids suffer… We’ve suffered enough.”

“Oh… right… I’m sorry.”

Ten shakes his head and grabs foil to cover up the brownies. “So, um, I might start acting… weird.”

“Weirder than normal?”

That gets a smirk out of Ten and Johnny chuckles.

“Yes. I’m gonna be loud and I’m _not_ apologizing.”

“Wait, loud as in…?”

Ten blushes red, “No, you pervert! I’m not doing anything while you’re in here!”

Johnny blushes and chuckles, shrugging. “Hey, I don’t know.”

“Listen, all you have to do is figure out what you’re gonna do with Taeil. This might be your chance to woe him.”

“Yeah, I don’t know about that, Ten. What if he’s straight?”

Ten deadpans, “A man wearing jeans that tight and with an ass _like that_ is probably not completely straight, John, just saying. So get it together.”

Johnny watches Ten strut off towards his room, tail waving behind him all cheery-like. “When did _he_ become so bossy?”

**Author's Note:**

> I began writing this in September of last year, forgot about it, remembered it, forgot again, wrote other stuff instead, re-read it, and thought, hey, I could do something with this. Unfortunately, what you see here is pretty much all I have written. I do have an outline for it, but honestly I'm having trouble figuring out what these notes mean... What was that Grey on?  
> Anyway, I hope y'all liked this :)  
> If you'd like to hear exactly what Johnny and Taeil heard, just have a listen to [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYYHrG6UC4U). Headphone users beware.  
> I am planning to add more, but, as I've mentioned in other fics, school is kicking my ass, literally curb-stomping the shit out of me, and my brain wants nothing more than to focus on writing fics, but you see, I'll let y'all in on a little secret... my grades in college determine my living conditions, and I very much like having access to wifi and a home to live in hehe
> 
> ANYWAY, I love y'all, y'all are amazing, I love taeten, I'm trying to be more active on twt and maybe post a few wip's, and, hey, if you have fanart, you can always tag me lol I don't have much of a following, but trust when I say I will love you forever and ever.  
> [blue bird app (twt)](https://twitter.com/Greyquill8) and [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/Greyquill8)


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